When writing code, it’s often easy to trigger the “freeze” response from the “fight, flight, freeze, or fawn” list of trauma responses.
“I bet I could make this SQL query more performant…”
“It feels like I could use a design pattern here…”
“This variable needs a better name…”
There are multiple issues at play here:
- Planning and doing at the same time is multitasking
- The potential for premature optimization, aka. “the root of all evil”
As a software developer, when I feel the freeze setting in, I find it helpful to remind myself:
No one ever needs to see this code!
It may be really bad, violate all the design principles, and be slower than a turtle, but that’s OK, because:
You can’t improve what doesn’t exit.
No one else is watching this creative process.
Just get the code out there,
get it working,
and then make it better.
Alternately, do a full stop, step away from the keyboard, and do some designing and planning. Sketch things out, determine the flow, and often the “what-ifs” become a lot more concrete.
Either way, remember:
No one else is watching!
So silence your inner critic and just get something out there. It will be much easier to go from there.
